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Adapted from Patti's Gingerbread
Makes enough for one gingerbread house that is about 7 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 7 inches tall.
4 1/2 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside.
In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients a cup at a time, mixing after each addition. If needed, work the last cup of flour into the dough with your hands. The dough should be stiff, but still moist and smooth, not dry or crumbly.
Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a rectangle. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or overnight. The dough can keep in the refrigerator for several days or for several months in the freezer. (If you freeze the dough, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before using it.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and roll the dough our directly onto the parchment (To make it easier, set the cookie sheet on a dish cloth and find a pair of small hands to hold the corners of the parchment paper while you roll.) Roll it 3/8 of an inch thick. Place the templates on the dough and cut out the house pieces and any other desired shapes with a sharp knife. If you cut windows or a door, do not remove them from the dough before baking. Form any scraps into a ball and flatten it for reuse.
Bake the dough until it is firm, about 12 to 15 minutes for house parts, and 5 or so minutes for smaller decorative pieces. Bake similar sizes on the same sheet because the length of time will vary significantly depending on the size of the shape being baked.
After removing the sheet from the oven, immediately cut out the windows and door from the house. Those pieces can be used as shutters or paving stones.
Let the gingerbread cool for about a minute on the baking sheet before moving the pieces to a rack to cool. When they have cooled completely, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and store them on a firm surface such as a flat plate or cutting board until it is time to assemble the house.